


He's Just Not That Into You

by jawdr0p



Category: K-pop, Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Getting Together, How Do I Tag, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, daniel is a hopeless romantic, seongwu is kind of a jerk? or just a player
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-21 09:19:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14912672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jawdr0p/pseuds/jawdr0p
Summary: Kang Daniel has always misread the signals of the guys he dates. He comes across Ong Seongwu who is not shy about telling him what he's doing wrong.Based on the story of Gigi and Alex from the movie with the same title.





	1. Kang Daniel's history

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kang Daniel’s relationships never seem to work. Here’s his history and be the judge if he’s doing something wrong.

**Euigeon, age 5**

In a quiet neighborhood in Busan, South Korea a beautiful 5-year old boy name Euigeon is playing among a group of kids in a sandbox that lay in the middle of the children’s play area. The sun was shining brightly and there was not a cloud in the sky. You can hear the laughter that only comes from children who has not seen a bad thing in this world; laughter that resonates innocence and pure joy.

Another boy who is but a year older approaches our Euigeon and watched as he gently shaped his sand castle before suddenly pushing him down. This is where we will witness Euigeon come across the first negativity in his life.

“Why did you do that?” asked the little boy on the verge of tears.

“Because you smell like cat poo.” replied the other kid.

Euigeon heard the other kids snicker and he felt his face turn red because of embarrassment.

The other boy then continued and said, “You’re so stupid just like cat poo! You're made of poo!” before jumping on his sandcastle, smashing it.

Euigeon cried. He continued crying even after his mom held his hand to take him home. She asked him what happened and caressed his back while and looking at him straight in the eye with nothing but love. The little boy could only get out one syllable between big wet sobs.

“made…of …poo.”

When she heard this, Euigon’s mother felt like her heart was breaking. She wanted to do anything and everything to make that smile that rivaled the sun in brightness reappear on her son’s face. So it was at this moment that she decided to tell a small white lie. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt anybody, right?  
  
“Oh… honey… do you know why that little boy did those things? And said those things?” his mother asked.

Euigeon shook his head no.

“Because he likes you.”

Euigeon stared at his mom blankly; the little boy trying to process what she just said.  
  
She then continued, “That little boy is doing those terrible things because he has a crush on you.”

Little Euigeon takes this in, like he is just now beginning to understand the ways of the world. This was the beginning – the beginning where he was encouraged to believe that if a guy acts like a total jerk, that means he likes you. Sure, it’s an idea that is quite cute for a five-year old but Euigeon has unconsciously kept on believing this well into his adulthood. Then, as he got older, he carried on this cycle of misreading signals of the people he dates. And for some reason, he seemed to always find himself getting the same kind of advice from different people.

 

  
**Euigeon, age 17**

He stares blankly at his phone, while mindlessly flipping the channel on the TV lounging in their living room. It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon and when a small familiar _ding_ was heard, Euigeon excitedly opened up his message looking forward to potentially livening up the rest of his day by exchanging flirtatious text messages with the guy he met at a double date yesterday. He pouted in slight disappointment to see the name of his friend who he went on the double date with instead.

_Did he text you yet?_

 

Daniel groaned before typing back

_No :(_

 

He heard his phone ding again  
_That guy was so into you. Maybe he just lost your number_.

 

 

**Euigeon (now legally changed to Daniel), age 18**

He’s working his shift at the café near his university totally not making it obvious that he’s ogling his sexy co-worker who also happens to be a senior in his college club. Daniel finds his eyes following his hot colleague as he walked by him but he did not give him a second glance. He looks on, kept his eyes on him and thought about what his other co-worker told him when he asked about his crush.

“He's not asking you out because he's intimidated by how much you’ve achieved at such a young age and the even greater things you’ll do in the future.”

 

 

**Daniel, age 20**

He’s lost count on how much he has drunk that night but he finds himself being the literal shoulder to lean on of some girl who also went to the bar in the city to drink her heartache away – both of them crying, with puffy eyes as they tell each other about the respective man and woman who broke their hearts on the same night. In between sobs and drunken hiccups, the girl says, “Here's the problem. He likes you too much. You're too cool and handsome. He can't handle it.”

 

 

**Daniel, age 21**

“I really feel the connection with him. It’s just different.” Daniel smiles as he gushes over the receiver of his phone recalling the memories of his last date. “We’ve gone out 4 times already and I think I can officially ask him to be my boyfriend on our next date.”

“Yeah, I know I… I thought he would be the one to do it last time too but we just got carried away and you know…” he continued - a faint blush tainting his cheeks. “I mean, that’s how it ends up with both of us starting on our first date.”

He hears his friend on the other line say, “Well, I don’t think you have anything to worry about then,” and Daniel sighed in relief. His friend added, “Trust me. He might even beat you to it and be the one to ask you out officially. He’s probably just scared because he’s never had a serious relationship.”

“You think?” he asked.

“I know.”

 

 

**Daniel, present day**

He’s sitting in a booth in a quaint restaurant a train station away From S University. Daniel is in his senior year, trying to balance his academic, social, and dating life without dying from stress and lack of sleep. He’s putting his best foot forward tonight though. Dressed in the classiest button-up he owns, he hopes the crisp white hue and the subtle pop of navy at the collar makes him look sharp. He also wore his favorite jeans that hug his legs that basically go on for days in just the right way to make a good first impression.

He’s sitting across Hwang Minhyun, an S University alumnus who graduated last year, looking equally dashing in own dress shirt and khaki pants. Daniel has seen him around campus before but never really had any interaction with him as they were in different departments and did not have any common friends. It seems getting out of school and into “the real world” has been good for Minhyun because he’s even more handsome from what Daniel remembers seeing the guy in passing a few times before. He finds Minhyun’s laugh a bit awkward but endearing and Daniel hopes he doesn’t seem too eager by staring at him with heart eyes but it also wouldn’t surprise him if he can’t hide his attraction well.

“So, Jaehwan told me you're working in real estate.” Daniel says after taking a sip on his drink.

“Yeah. You may see my face in a bus ad one of these days. I’m trying to expand my client list.”

“I’m sure your face can sell a million dollar home.” Minhyun laughs at this and Daniel mentally gave himself a pat on the back for that comeback.  
  
He then sips more of his drink and looks at Minhyun and asked, “I wonder why Jaehwan never thought of introducing us before?”

“Yeah, I don't know, I ummm –” before he could finish what he was saying, their waitress appears, cutting him off.

“You guys ready for another round?” she asked and Minhyun looks at Daniel.

“You want one more?” asked Minhyun.

“Only if you do,” said Daniel. “But I mean, if you have to get going it’s totally…” he trails of his sentence as he saw Minhyun considering what to say. Daniel knows that the outcome of this date depends on next words that will leave the other guy’s lips.

“Uhm…. Okay. Sure. One more.”

Daniel breathes a sigh of relief taking it as a sign that the other man is also enjoying his company.

“You had the Bourbon whiskey, right?”

He nods and smiles not attempting to hide that he’s flattered because Minhyun remember his order.

 

 

Outside the restaurant 20 minutes later, Daniel and Minhyun shares a hug.

“I had a really nice time, Minhyun.” Daniel said after they parted.

“Yeah. It was really nice meeting you.”

“Bye.” He waves in a way he hopes comes across as flirtatious and walks away, smiling. He turns around to look, and sees Minhyun take his phone out of his pocket. Daniel, too, takes his own phone out and searches his contacts for the person who made the date possible.  
  
“Hey Jaehwan, it's me… He's cute… I think it went well.” He sneaks another look over his shoulder to see Minhyun and saw him texting on his phone. “I think he’s texting me right now.”

 

   
Minhyun reaches his apartment, a loft in downtown Seoul that may seem to be a lot more than a person who just graduated university could afford. However, getting in the real estate business allowed him to see hidden gems in the housing market which was big deal in a city like Seoul and although his job is not glamorous, this was one of the perks he really liked especially after moving out of his university dorm.

He was very much looking forward to going straight to bed after this long day but after punching in the code to his door and removing his shoes to go inside, he saw a familiar face sitting on his couch, fiddling with his phone and helping himself to the snacks Minhyun keeps in his pantry.

Ong Seongwu, Minhyun’s best friend who he went to high school with. Although they went to different universities, they have kept in touch and when they found themselves a bit lost in the “world of adults” after joining the working class, they have grown even closer proving that misery indeed loves company.

“Hey! How was the date?” Seongwu greets him.

“Fine. You know…” Minhyun heads for the kitchen then turns back.

“Why are you here?” he asked Seongwu, wanting to sound annoyed but there’s really no bite in his words. “If you hate your apartment, which I helped you find and get a good deal on, by the way…”

“My internet’s out” was the reply he got as Seongwu cut him off.

Minhyun returns from the kitchen with a glass of water and joined Seongwu on the couch.

 

 

Two days later, Jaehwan returns to his shared flat with Daniel after his classes and saw his friend slumped down sitting on the floor of their living room looking very intensely on his phone that’s sitting on their coffee table. He then hears the other man breathe a very heavy sigh.

“Okay, so clearly he hasn't called or texted you.” Jaehwan said, knowing full well that Daniel has been waiting for Minhyun to contact him after their date. Daniel just shook his head.

“Maybe he's out of town. Business trip. You know how a working man is.”

Daniel looked at him and raised one of his eyebrows, “He works in real estate. In Seoul. Staying in town is his business.”

“Right.”

“…” Daniel remained silent but his eyes looked at Jaehwan almost pleading like a puppy and he couldn’t help but want to comfort his friend.

“Look, let me tell you - after the first time I went out with Sewoon, he didn't call me for 12 days. TWELVE DAYS! And now he's like the world's best boyfriend. That happens all the time.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” Daniel manages a small smile but then said, “You know, this is all your fault…” slightly jabbing his roommate with his elbow.

“What? Why?” Jaehwan asked looking at Daniel confused.

“You set me up with him.” Daniel answered.

“No – you asked if I knew any guys and I gave Minhyun your number. That's not a set up. When I do a set up, I go all out. I weigh pros and cons. I do my due diligence. I just know Minhyun because he was the one who sold our old house and then I find out he graduated from S University. I’ve never even seen him on campus before.”

Daniel was silent but after a moment he makes a move for his phone before Jaehwan stops him.

“Daniel, stop.”

Daniel visibly deflates then he turned to his friend and said, “Look, he said he always hangs at this bar downtown, you know the one with the 5 leaf clover logo? Maybe I should drop by?”

Jaehwan just shook his head before looking Daniel in the eyes, “Please, don't. He'll call you.”

 

 

From that moment, Daniel’s phone was either glued to his hand or within arm’s reach. He made sure to keep the volume on the highest setting so that he can hear any call or text come through even when he’s sleeping. He also checks his phone as often as he could even if he did not hear any notification. Three days and without contact from Minhyun; Daniel feels defeated.  
  
“So, this was at the end of the date, or at the beginning?” Jaehwan asked trying to dissect every moment of the date through Daniel’s recollection.

Daniel was working his shift at the café when Jaehwan decided to stop by to grab a cup of coffee. He came in while Daniel was taking his break and they stopped to sit and chat at one of the tables there.

“At the end. Why does it matter?” Daniel answered.

“Yeah. _"Nice meeting you"_ at the beginning of the date is normal. _"Nice meeting you"_ at the end could be a blow off.” Jaehwan said while sipping his hot Americano.

Daniel thinks back hard and said, “Maybe it was at the beginning.”

“ Then, that's fine. He's gonna call.”

“Or maybe it was at the end. Or maybe it was nice to meet me.” Daniel wanted to run his fingers through his hair in frustration but he couldn’t mess it up as he still had 2 hours left in his shift and can’t risk not looking presentable in front of customers.

“Wait - was it _"nice meeting you"_ or _"nice to meet you"_? Jaehwan asked again.

“Shit. I can't remember.”

“ _"Nice to meet you"_ is Okay. _"Nice meeting you"_ is like _"Do you want your receipt in the bag?"_ ”

The pair looked up when they felt someone standing near their table to find Yoon Jisung, the manager of the café and Daniel’s unofficial keeper, listening with his arms crossed.  
  
“ Remember the days when you at least pretended to be working when I’m around?” Jisung shakes his head. “How’s the inventory?” he asked, question directed to Daniel.

“I am almost done with that. It's just been a little hard to focus, when the guy - who may or may not be the love of my life - refuses to call me.”

Jisung looks at Daniel, sympathetic and more of a friend than his boss.

“Look, after my first date with Sungwoon, I called him. There are no rules. Why should you have to wait for him to get off his ass?”

Daniel continued his day thinking about Jisung’s advice.

 

 

At their shared apartment that night, Daniel sits at his desk in his room with Jaehwan standing by his side. There are a few sheets of paper on the table and Daniel takes a deep breath, picks up his phone and dials. Jaehwan gives him two thumbs up as a sign of support.

“ It's ringing.” Daniel whisphers while covering the receiver of his phone.

“That’s standard.” was Jaehwan’s reply but it seems the other guy didn’t hear him busy checking if the person he’s calling will answer.

Daniel then looks at his roommate and says, “Yes! Voicemail.”

“Your notes…” Jaehwan gestures to the sheets of paper on the desk.

Daniel nods and mouths, _“It’s all under control.”_

He reads off his paper and starts, “Hey, Minhyun. It's Daniel. I just thought, I hadn't heard from you and, I mean how stupid is it that a guy has got to wait for another guy's call just because he’s younger, right?” His nerves suddenly get to him and he laughs to cover it up. He looks back to his notes and looked up at Jaehwan panicking. Suddenly, he can’t read his own hand writing.

He mouths, _“What does this say?!”_

Jaehwan looks but he can’t understand it either and offers no help.

Daniel just decided to wing it. He clears his throat and continued, “I mean, we're all equal, right? More than equal –” he rambles about how a one-year age difference shouldn’t really matter even if he’s technically more of an adult because Daniel is still in university that it feels like he was talking for a full minute when realistically, it could not have been more than twenty seconds.

He flips through the pages of his cheat sheet, looks to Jaehwan helplessly before finally saying “Well, call me. This is Daniel. Call me.” Daniel hangs up unsure and looks to his roommate again.

“Don't worry. He's totally gonna call.”

 

 

   
The next evening, still no text or call from Minhyun, Daniel stares at his phone and feigns disinterest. Silence envelops his room and Daniel can’t keep still, a thousand thoughts running through his head.

 

_5 seconds_

 

_10 seconds_

 

_20 seconds_

 

_Nothing._

 

Daniel grabs his phone and calls Jaehwan. He knows that his friend will be at his boyfriend’s place and knowing how clingy he can be, Daniel thinks there’s a very slim chance that he will answer. His suspicions came true when he hears the prompt to leave his friend a voicemail.

“Jaehwan, it's me. Minhyun never called, so I'm on the precipice of staging a casual run-in at the Five Leaf Clover. Pick up if you want to stop me.”

  
_Silence_

  
Daniel taps his fingers thrice then said, “Alright. I'm interpreting your silence as tacit compliance. Bye.”

Daniel hurriedly hangs up, and heads out the door.

 

 

  
It’s a crowded night at the bar. Being located in downtown Seoul was good for business what with the night being young and the people in need of a distraction from their daily mundane lives - alcohol offered a good means of escape even for just a few hours before the need to face a new reality that comes with the next day.

A boy, no older than 20, clad in a black uniform worn by the employees of Five Leaf Clover walks into the young boss’ office humming a tune that seems to have been stuck in his head for days with an excited bounce to his steps. The door was kept open and he sees Ong Seongwu sitting at a small cluttered desk rifling through some papers.

He stops at the doorway, looks at the man working.

“Knock knock.”

Seongwu looks up to see Jihoon, the waiter who started working part-time at the bar he now manages after his dad relinquished total control to him when he graduated last year. Jihoon stood in the doorway then makes his way in.

“Hey” says Seongwu. He wants to be friendly but it’s a busy day and any interaction that will divert his attention on what he needs to do is currently not welcome.  
  
“So… here we are. Same shift again.” Jihoon starts.

“I know. I make the schedule.” the boss replied, his tone flat and he finds himself thinking _“Where is this conversation going?”_

With a hint of flirtation in his voice, Jihoon responded, “I figured it was no coincidence.” He then leans against the desk but Seongwu kept on working. The younger continued, “I had fun the other night.”

“Yeah. It's amazing where 10 shots of tequila will get you.” he snorted.

Jihoon laughs but stops after realizing that wasn’t quite nice of Seongwu. However, he brushed his thoughts off and continued, “Anyway - I was thinking, maybe tonight after work...we could, you know...”

Seongwu stops what he's doing and looks up at the younger guy. _Okay, now he knows where this is going and he does not like it one bit._ He’s not one to shy away from cold hard truths and he does not want to mislead Jihoon.

“Look, Jihoon – what happened between us the other night was - fun. But we're way understaffed tonight. I even have to man the bar and that's why I scheduled you. To work. So...” he trails before going back to his paperwork.

Jihoon stands there frozen, his eyes do not leave Seongwu. The young boss feels his gaze and although it’s not an unfamiliar kind of look, it doesn’t mean that it’s pleasant. However, he knows that this needs to be done. He looks at him again and asked, “Are we good here?”

Jihoon’s face goes flush but he tries to hide it. He backs up from Seongwu’s desk and smiles. “No. We're good.”

He leaves and the other goes back to his work.

 

  
Later that night at the bar, by the backdoor that leads to the alley, Seongwu stands chatting with Woojin, the busboy. Jihoon walks to them after a few moments trying to squeeze through and accidentally (maybe on purpose) hits Seongwu with his shoulders. Hard. So hard that he had to take a step to catch his balance. He turns around to see Jihoon but he kept walking, his eyes faced front. Seongwu and Woojin shares a look.

“Dude.” says Woojin.

“I know.”

Woojin laughs as Seongwu shakes his head.

 

 

 

When Daniel arrived at the Five Leaf Clover he enters slowly, looking around, searching for Minhyun. He tries to move toward the bar as he’s met by Jihoon, who grabs a few menus and slaps on a smile.

“Are you joining us for dinner or –“

“I'm meeting someone. A guy.” Daniel interrupts

“Ugh. Why?” Jihoon couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Daniel, however, failed to notice as he was busy still looking for Minhyun. He wasn’t too out of it because he still heard the waiter speak so he said, “Hm?” for the other to possibly repeat what he said.

“Nothing. Sorry. For dinner?”

Daniel continues to scan the place, not paying attention to the person in front of him.

“I'm meeting someone.” He says again.

“I believe you mentioned that.” Jihoon stares at the customer who seems to be taking a visual tour of the room. When he did not find what he was looking for, he faces Jihoon and says, “I'm gonna wait at the bar.”

“That's a great idea.”

Daniel walks off and Jihoon takes his place behind the host stand.

 

 

  
Daniel gets to the bar and grabs a stool with a good view of the door. Seongwu who was behind the bar at that time approaches him with his customer-winning smile.

“What can I get you?” He asks the man whose eyes don’t leave the door.

“Oh, that's okay. I'm meeting someone.” Seongwu looks at the other man and takes his behavior and demeanor in. He noticed that he’s very handsome but too nervous and a bit fidgety for his taste.

“Oh, yeah? Got a hot date?” he asks, just to make small talk.

“I don't know if you'd call it hot -- I mean this guy Minhyun and I have only been out the one time so –”

“Wait – Hwang Minhyun?” Seongwu interrupted at the mention of his best friend’s name. Daniel looks at him his cheeks tainted pink from embarrassment.

He tries to fake his way through the conversation though and simply replied, “Oh, uhh, yeah…”

“Minhyun’s not coming in tonight. Did he forget he was supposed to meet you?” Seongwu asked with genuine curiosity.

Daniel turned an even brighter shade of red and scratched his nape before saying, “See when I said _"meeting someone"_ I guess that was kind of a broad term, kind of a wide interpretation of the word "meeting" – ”

Seongwu interrupted Daniel again to say, “Because I could just call him…” and he reaches for his phone.

Daniel visibly panics and he shouts, “No!” before he could stop himself. The other man slowly put his phone down but his eyes never leave Daniel. The younger man sighed, tried to collect himself and then say, “I mean, totally unnecessary. I mean, I actually was just… in the area - so I figured I'd just swing by and see if he was around… because – uhhh…”

This time, Seongwu waits for the other man to continue instead of interrupting. He’s amused because the guy is clearly panicking.

Daniel continues, “I uhh, had to return his…” he searches his coat pockets - searching for something, anything - and fishes out a pen. He looks at it before deciding that he’s in too deep and decides to go with it.

“Pen. I had to return this pen. He left this. So, I thought I should really return it before he… you know freaks out.” Daniel sees that the other man is looking at him skeptically. He takes then pen from Daniel’s hand and inspects it.

“Dr. Martin Lee – Family Dentistry and Orthodontics” he says as he reads the markings on the pen.

Daniel just wants the ground to swallow him whole. But he’s not a quitter and he will stick with his story no matter how ridiculous it sounds. “Look, I'm not gonna judge about what may or may not be important to someone.”

“That's not even his dentist.”

“Oh, really? Who's his dentist?”

“His dad.”

Daniel looks at the man behind the bar and finally, he folds.  
  
“I'm Daniel. Minhyun and I went out last week. And I just...I thought if I ran into him...I don't know. I'm gonna go.” He struggles to get out of his seat quickly and Seongwu looks at him, holding his pen and the look in his eyes changed from amusement to something softer.

“Hey! Just - hang out for a second; let me buy you a drink.” Daniel smiles and sits back down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is in no way, shape, or form original and I took a lot of the dialogue from the movie too but I just thought this story can fit OngNiel's dynamic. I wanted to post this as a oneshot and I already have the rough draft finished but because I wrote it right after coming home from work on a Monday, I'm not completely happy with the parts that came after this first chapter end so I decided to just make it a few chapters long. I hope you'll enjoy the ride, nonetheless.


	2. Ong Seongwu's advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seongwu is the first to give Daniel this kind of advice about his love life.

A few hours later, the bar is nearly empty and Seongwu is behind the cash register totaling the receipts. Daniel on the other hand has not left his seat still nursing his drink. Seongwu got a glimpse of him on his peripheral vision and remembered their brief conversation earlier that night and decided to approach him. He made up his mind about doing this guy a favor he clearly needs.

He stopped right in front him, still behind the bar, “Look, you seem like a cool guy, so I'm just gonna be honest. Minhyun is never going to call you.”

Daniel looks up to him as if scandalized. He retorted, “Oh really? How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“He said it was nice meeting me.” he replied with a tone of hope in his voice. Sure his date with Minhyun was not something one would base a romance novel on but it wasn’t terrible that he would drive the guy away after just one meeting.

Seongwu was still blunt and straightforward, “I don't care if he said you were his favorite person after his mommy. A week went by and he didn't call.”

Daniel tried to reason, always wanting to give people a chance in a way that perhaps Seongwu would see as stupidly naïve, “But maybe he called me and I didn't get the message.” He paused briefly before continuing, “Or maybe he lost my number, or was out of town, or was hit by a cab, or his grandma died.”

Seongwu just looks at him like he can’t believe he’s hearing these words come out of the other’s mouth. He then laid it down, the words that he knows this guy needs to hear, “Or maybe he just didn't call because he has no interest in seeing you again.”

Daniel was slightly taken aback but he did not give up. He had a nice time with Minhyun and he thought that the feeling was reciprocated. He believed it could be the beginning of something that can be very special if given the chance. “Yeah… but my friend once went out with this guy who never called and he totally wrote him off - then like a year later he ran into him again…”

The barman did not let him finish and simply said, “Your friend is an idiot. And he’s the exception.”

“Okay. But what if I'm the exception?” Daniel looks down at his drink, still hopeful.

“You're not. You're the rule. And the rule is - if someone doesn't call you, he doesn't want to call you.” Seongwu is slightly in disbelief that he’s having this conversation with an adult. Sure he knows that there are still hopeless romantics in this world; he’s not that cynical – but he never thought he would see someone so ready to give 100% of himself away to the first guy that comes along.

The younger man looks up and asked in the most genuine way – as if he just heard a big revelation, “Really? Always?”

“Yeah. Always. I know what blowing off someone looks like. I do it early and I do it often. Trust me - if a guy is treating you like he doesn't give a shit, he doesn't. No exceptions.”

Daniel finds himself thinking about the other man’s words over before asking, “Why are you telling me this?”

Seongwu laughs, his nose scrunching up as he did, “I don't know. You looked like you could really use the help.”

Daniel stares at his drink one more time then back at the other man. “Thank you. You've given me a lot to think about.” and smiles at him before leaving the bar.

 

 

 

Jaehwan came back to his shared apartment the next morning to find Daniel sat on their dining room chair, the table serving as his makeshift desk. There’s a mess of papers scattered on the table and his roommate seems to still be wearing his clothes from the previous night. His hair was messy and he was looking straight at what’s in front of him in serious thought.

“Everything okay?” Jaehwan breaks the silence and walks over to Daniel.

“I was up all night.” was the short reply of the other.

“Please say you’re working on a class project.”

“Yeah, sure. That’s done. But this – this is important.”

“What's happening with your hair?” Jaehwan asks as he reached out to try and fix the mop that is on top of his friend’s head. It looks like he was electrocuted or something with the way his hair is up in almost all directions.

Daniel suddenly stood up and started pacing back and forth between their living room and dining area. Their flat is quite small and with Daniel’s height and the length of his stride, it doesn’t take too many steps to cover that space. Jaehwan just continues to watch, waiting for him to say something.

“I think I figured it out. Remember when I went out with that convenience store cashier and he cheated on me? And then Youngmin from upstairs told us that story about how his boyfriend cheated on him at the beginning - but then he totally changed and they're basically married and crazy in love?”

“I thought that guy was the barista?” Jaehwan asks not know where Daniel was going in this sleep-deprived train of thought.

“No, the cashier. Anyway, the point is - Youngmin is the exception. Not the rule. I have to stop listening to these stories – because the rule is that most guys who cheat on you don't really care about you very much.”

“Okay…”

Daniel suddenly grabbed a crumpled piece of paper from the dining table. “Look, remember Junki – the guitarist who lived in his storage space?” he asked but didn’t really pause to let his roommate answer. “He only used me for free lunch, yet I continued to stalk him when I was 19. Then there was Sejun, who broke up with me every Friday so he could have his weekends free…

“I was so delusional about our relationship that I referred to him as my husband to random people like my hair dresser. And someone will always tell me stories about how things might work out with these dipshits because they knew someone who knew someone who dated a dipshit just like mine, and they ended up practically married and living happily ever after. But that's the exception. And I’m not the exception…

“I’m the rule.”

When Daniel finally finished, he sat down, spent. Jaehwan just looks at his friend wondering what happened last night.

 

 

 

The next weekend, Jaehwan decided to be the bestest friend that Kang Daniel does not know he needs and took him out in the hopes of getting him back in the dating scene. Usually, when Jaehwan makes this invitation, Daniel becomes the third-wheel but this time, Jaehwan told him that it will just be the two of them and that Sewoon understood that Daniel needs him more right now.

They arrived at a bar near their flat during happy hour and the place was packed. After a few drinks, they’re standing squeezed in among the crowd and a guy named Jiho is chatting with Daniel. He looks like he’s in his mid-twenties and already working but seemed eager to be hitting it up with a senior university student. Their conversation died down and Jiho says, “Well, I guess I have to get back to the office.”

“You go back to the office after happy hour? What's happy about that?” Daniel asked a bit disappointed that the guy could not stay longer.

“I met you.” He replied and Daniel smiles and maybe melts a little at the cheesy pick-up line.

“So, I’d love to call you sometime. Do you mind?” Jiho asked while getting his wallet out and fishing something inside.

“No, of course not.” Daniel replied as he frantically takes a pen from Jaehwan and scribbles his number on a receipt before giving it to Jiho.

He accepts then says, “And here's my info.” He hands Daniel the business card he took out earlier before saying, “Looking forward to hear from you, Daniel.” He leaves the two friends to head over to his peers.

Jaehwan smiles at Daniel knowing this his friend definitely liked where this was going scoring a potential date. However, when he turns to him, there’s a confused look on his face. Then Daniel follows Jiho, taps his shoulder before he reaches his friends on the other side of the bar and asked, “So, wait… how are we doing this? Are you hearing from me or am I getting a call?”

Jiho turns back and says, “What?”

“You said you’d love to call me, but then you said _"looking forward to hear from you."_ See how that’s kinda confusing?”

“Look - we'll talk. We'll get in touch.” the older man says and tries to take off again.

Daniel catches up to him for the second time and insists, “See, you did it again. Very vague. You know what? Why don’t we just say that you'll call me, and then we can skip all the nonsense.”

When he didn’t say anything back but just stared at him blankly, Daniel continues, “or I guess I could just call you –”

“Bye, Daniel.” he smiles to him before leaving.

Jaehwan caught up to his friend and watched Jiho’s back as he walks away. Daniel turns to Jaehwan with a smile and says, “He’s cute.”

“Please don't cyber-stalk him.” Jaehwan looks at him suspiciously.

Daniel doesn’t say anything but just looked at the business card he had in his hand.

 

_Woo Jiho_

 

Jaehwan’s eyes widened as he saw his friend tear the card in two. “ Wait - what are you doing?”

“I'm not calling him. If he wants to see me - he'll call.” he says with a tone that speaks finality.

“Wow, that guy Seongwu really made an impression on you… Was he hot?” Jaehwan looks at Daniel suspiciously knowing that he can easily be swayed by guys with good looks, especially confident guys with good looks. This Seongwu guy must have been godly to have made this kind of impression on Daniel.

The latter didn’t expect the question but still replied, “What? No. Well, yes… but that’s beside the point. He was just right.”

 

 

 

After their night out, Daniel is back in his room and he fiddles with the pockets of his pants and finds the torn business card. He looks at the two pieces of papers in his hand and hurriedly goes to his desk looking for his clear tape. Before he knew it, he’s taped the card back together and he’s staring at the name and number on the card.

He reaches for his phone, changes his mind maybe four or five times before he finally makes a call.

 “Hi. This is Daniel.”

 

 

 

 Seongwu is sitting on his desk in his office inside the bar when his cell phone rang. It was an unknown number but he decided to take it anyway.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hi. This is Daniel.”

“Daniel?” Seongwu asked not remembering any Daniel from his recent hook-ups.

“Kang Daniel. I had the… uh… dentist pen.”

Seongwu suddenly remembers the guy who apparently went on a date with his friend Minhyun once then goes to his bar to look for him when he didn’t call. He almost chuckled remembering his encounter with the hopeless romantic guy.

“Right.” was the only response Seongwu gave. He recalls giving his number to Daniel and telling him to choose the Five Leaf Clover again if he needs a distraction in the form of alcohol.

“I'm really sorry to bug you.” Daniel’s voice on the other end of the phone took Seongwu out of his thoughts and back to the present. The younger guy continued, “I just - I thought you had some really good insights the other night and… I had a question.”

Seongwu groans and interrupts him before he could say anything more unable to believe that this guy is still hung up on Minhyun not calling him so he says, “Okay, maybe I need to be harsh. Minhyun is never going to be interested in you.”

“No, I know. This is about Jiho. Do you have a minute?”

The mention of a new name perks Seongwu’s curiosity. He looks at his desk and the amount of work he had left to do before he can call it a day and decides he could use a break so he replies, “Okay…”

“So I meet him at happy hour and he was completely charming…”

“Let me guess… he said the only thing happy about this hour is you.” Seongwu replied thinking back on how many times he’s used that pick-up line in the past because for some reason, it always works.

“He may have used some derivative of that.” Daniel was quiet for a few seconds before he continues, “So, he says he's going to call, but then gave me his card and…”

“He's not interested.” Seongwu cut him off bluntly.

“You don't even know if he called.” He heard the other practically whine on the other end of the line.

“Did he?”

“No. But the thing is, I honestly think he's expecting my call. He said _"Looking forward to hear from you"_ and not _"Look forward to talking to you."_ I mean, do you hear the connotations?”

“He. Is. Not. Interested.” Seongwu says with emphasis on each word. At that exact time, Woojin appears in his doorway and says, “Seongwu, this is injustice! Jihoon is giving me shit for not wearing a white shirt -- this shirt is WHITE!” Woojin points to a very small white insignia on an otherwise black shirt.

Seongwu walks from his desk towards him and shuts his office door on him waving his free hand once as if to say _“I don’t have time for your shit right now.”_ This does not stop his busboy from shouting “This shirt is white!” from the other side of the door. When the door fully closed, he goes back to his phone conversation and says, “If he gives you his phone number, instead of taking yours, he's not interested.”

“He took my number first, but then he -”

Seongwu was not done. Talking to someone like Daniel is kind of exhausting but at the same time also kind of fun so he continues, “And if he wants to see you, he will see you. I once called 55 Kim Jonghyun’s until I got the right one.” the older decided that sharing a little about his personal experience was worth it to hopefully convince the other that he’s right.

“That's cute. What happened?” Daniel asked and he seemed to be eager to hear the love story of the century.

 Seongwu quickly extinguished any thoughts of a cheesy romance being part of his life as he says, “As it turned out, his ass looked equally scrumptious in daylight and during the night.”

 “Is it your sensitivity what makes you so popular?” The older man can feel Daniel judging him so he diverts the conversation away from himself and says, “Don't call him. He doesn't like you.”

 “Again with the sensitivity.” Daniel replies.

 “Just trying to help.”

 “I know. Thanks.”

 Daniel hangs up. He places his phone down, looks at the business card that he taped up and re-tears into smaller pieces that there’s no chance of ever putting it back together. “ _He’s right. If he doesn’t like me, why should I waste my time on him?”_ This was the thoughts stuck with Daniel for the rest of the night until he fell asleep.

 

 

 

Two weeks later, Daniel finds himself sitting on a leather couch in what is obviously a typical bachelor’s pad. He’s making out with Minseok a 28-year old business man who has stopped by a few times at the café he’s working at.

 “Who would have thought that a coffee spill incident would lead here and fix me up with such a good kisser?”

 “Right back at you.” He smiles at Daniel and they make out some more.

 “I can't wait to kiss you again.” Daniel thinks that things are going great so far but he shouldn’t be too eager and too available. He thinks about making Minseok work a bit harder before he allows more intimacy.

 “Well, we're kissing right now.”

 “I know. But next time. The second date kiss is way more enjoyable.” he says in between pecks. When they parted, Daniel heard him say “Well, I'm going out of town tomorrow - so I'll be out of touch for a bit.” as he started pulling off his shirt.

 Daniel pulls away. “Would you excuse me a quick second?” He says and makes a beeline down the hall into the bathroom. Inside, he makes a call while mindlessly going through Minseok’s cabinet.

 

 

 

On the other side of town, Seongwu is also mid-makeout on the couch in his apartment with a very hot Cha Eunwoo. They met at a common friend’s birthday party and could not take their eyes off of each other the whole night. Seongwu is kind of surprised he lasted as long as he did before asking Eunwoo to leave the party together to head to his place. Eunwoo was beginning to be more playful and started biting his lower lip when suddenly, his phone rings. Seongwu saw Daniel’s name on the screen and answers it without second thought.

 “Yes?”

 “Hey, sorry to bug you again. Quick question.” Seongwu briefly removed the phone from his ear but his mouth is still close enough that Daniel heard him say, presumably to the person he’s with, “Would you excuse me for a second, babe?” Seongwu walks into the hallway before putting the phone back in his ear. “What’s up?”

 “I'm making out with a guy - PG stuff - and then he mentions he's going out of town, so he's gonna be out of touch.”

 “Run.” Seongwu advised.

 “But maybe he is going out of town.” Daniel reasons.

 This seems to be the format of their conversations now like a comedy sketch duo. Daniel telling Seongwu about a potential boyfriend and the other crashing his hopes and dreams by bluntly pointing out cues as to why said potential boyfriend may not be so into him as he thought.

 “To where, the Sahara? Where is he going that he has to be out of touch? It’s 2018. There’s wifi everywhere.”

 Daniel places his phone on his chest, attempting to block Seongwu from hearing him. He opens the bathroom door and shouts down the hall to Minseok. “Where are you going out of town to again?”

 “Jeju” he answered mindless ly.

 “Jeju.” Daniel reports back to Seongwu after closing the bathroom door.

 “Run.” He advised again.

 “So, now what? I'm just supposed to run from every guy who doesn't like me?”

 “Uh, yeah.” he said matter-of-factly.

 “Then there's not going to be anyone left.” Daniel whines and pouts, complaining. Seongwu just laughs before saying, “Okay, I don't know why I'm saying this… but I actually think I know a nice guy who you might like.”

 “Yeah?” Daniel asked, hopeful.

 “Yeah. He's a friend of my sister’s. His name is Seunghyun. We'll all meet for a drink - it'll be good.”

 Daniel smiles before asking Seongwu another question. He figures asking for advice again shouldn’t really matter since Seongwu has always been open and honest with him with his opinions. “So, I'm in his bathroom right now. What do I now?”

 “You gotta come out eventually.” He says as he walks back to Eunwoo, winking when their eyes met. He then continues, “But I'd reeeaaaally take my time… Let him sweat.” Seongwu hangs up the phone and goes back to his hot date.

 Meanwhile, Daniel finds dental floss in Minseok’s bathroom cabinet and thinks that there’s not a bad time for oral hygiene.

 

 

 

Seongwu asked Daniel to meet at bar called Three Arrows in Itaewon the next weekend to meet his sister’s friend Seunghyun. Daniel was sitting in a booth alone, drinking his whiskey when Seongwu walks through the door and goes directly to his table.

 “Sorry I'm late.” He smiled. Daniel has always thought Seongwu was handsome but any attraction to his pretty face is overshadowed by the dating know-how he willingly shares with Daniel – kind of like a teacher you know is hot but because he’s your teacher, you don’t even let your mind go there.

 “That's okay. I like a little time before a blind date. I need to prepare myself mentally, remind myself not to tell the story about my molars and teeth grinding…”

 “He's not coming.” Seongwu cuts him off and motions to the waitress to give them a round of drinks. He then continued, “Can't wait to hear that story though.” a grin appearing on his face.

 Daniel frowns and looks at Seongwu in disbelief, “How can he already not like me? He hasn’t even met me!”

 The older looks with what looks like an apologetic smile, “I screwed up. I told Seunghyun it was Saturday, but I meant Friday.” Daniel can’t hide his disappointment but a few seconds later, the waitress drops off the drinks Seongwu ordered earlier. They clink their glasses in toast and both observe the scene at the bar.

  “Awesome. I'm stuck here with a guy who can't distinguish Friday from Saturday - and meanwhile this guy –” Daniel motions to the guy standing between two other guys at the bar, “he’s probably meeting his soulmate as we speak.”

 Seongwu looked at who Daniel was referring to and tries to hide his impish grin before answering, “Nope.”

 “How do you know?” Daniel asks with a raised brow. So far, all of his interactions with Seongwu has been a learning experience. It seems the other man reads people quite well and knows what makes them tick. Daniel figures that learning a trick or two from his book will help him with his guy problems.

 “See the guy trying to work the _“I’m a chic and cool guy”_ thing. He’s interested,” Seongwu said pointing at the guy on the right. “He’s not.” he points to the guy on the left.

 “You cannot tell from a cursory glance that he's not interested.” He looked at the other guy in disbelief. Surely, he’s just making things up now as no one should be have this kind of upper hand in figuring people out.

 “Actually, I can. I manage a bar. I see this stuff go down every night. Watch –”

 As if on cue, chic and cool guy bangs his elbow into the guy in the middle, hard, causing him to spill his drink. Chic and cool guy sees, but doesn't acknowledge and Daniel’s jaw drops as he looks at Seongwu who is looking very smug and proud.

 “Man, you have a gift.”

 Seongwu continues, “And check out lanky on his other side. He can buy him drinks all night, and he’ll insist there's no _"spark."_ ”

 “Maybe there isn't. You need a spark.” Daniel counters. He knows Seongwu isn’t romantic and approaches relationships practically but he refuses to believe that there is a person in this world who would refute the “spark” between two people.

 “The _"spark"_ thing is bullshit.”

 “Really? Enlighten me.” He challenges and Seongwu is more than happy to say his two cents as always. “Players invented the _"spark"_ so they could not call and treat you kind of bad and keep you guessing, and then convince you that the anxiety and fear that it creates in you is actually a _"spark."_ And naïve guys like you buy it all the time. You love it. You thrive on it because you love the drama and excitement.”

 “I don't.” Daniel protested. Yes, he can’t navigate the dating game like the back of his hand but he certainly doesn’t do things that make things difficult for him… _Right?_

 Seongwu looks at him contemplatively, “Really? So you don't wait until the last minute on deadlines, or on your bills, because you love the thrill of not knowing whether you'll make it?”

 Daniel’s face shows a kind of shocked expression as if his jaw literally dropped on the floor and he was busted doing something he should not. “Maybe.”

 “And let me guess –” Seongwu continues, “When you were stalking Minhyun that night… you were obsessing about him calling for days, even though the date was just kind of okay.”

 “Okay. Yeah.” he finally admits.

  “See, you thrive on drama. You got to be more like me - if a guy likes me then great, if not, there are plenty more like him - probably with smaller pores and bigger dicks.” Seongwu grins at him.

 “That's beautiful.” Daniel said sarcastically.

  They continue drinking and watching other people in the bar before Daniel breaks the silence and asked, “Why are you sharing all this with me again?”

 “I dunno. I like you.” Seongwu shrugged.

 “You do?” Daniel asked with his brows raised.

 Seongwu did a double take before saying, “Please don't start doodling my name on your notebook. I just mean, I like you, like I like basset hounds. They look kinda pathetic so you want to cheer them up.”

 “Again, with the sensitivity.” Daniel shook his head.

  Seongwu smiles at him and Daniel can't help but smile back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to finish writing this as soon as possible because I'll be busy with real life responsibilities and may not have time and I didn't want to lose my interest in writing before I finish what I started. There's probably typos everywhere and grammatical errors. I struggle with keeping my tenses consistent (English, why are you so confusing?! TT_TT)
> 
> This whole story will only be 3 chapters long and I think I can get the next one done tomorrow. In hindsight, I think it would have fit the plot better if Daniel was also done with school but it's too late to change that now. Haha! I also leave it to your discretion whether you will think of the other characters mentioned here as the idols we all know and love or someone who just happens to have the same name (－ｏ⌒)
> 
> Anyways, thank you to those who took the time to read this.


	3. You are my exception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This whole mess gets resolved.

Saturday night, Daniel decided to just stay home and binge watch romantic comedies from the 80’s. He’s sitting on his living room couch, blanket hanging from his shoulders, eating microwave popcorn from a bowl. Some Kind of Wonderful is playing on his TV when his phone rings.

“Hello?”

 

 

 

Saturday night, Seongwu is working. Even inside his office, you can faintly hear the chatter that’s expected at any bar scene on a weekend. As if on auto-pilot, the young manager’s hand picks up his phone and makes a phone call.

“Oh, hey! Are you home?”

“Where else am I supposed to be?” Daniel asked while munching on his popcorn on the other line.

“Out. It’s a Saturday night.” Seongwu stated as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Daniel straightens up on his couch, hugged one of the stuffed pillows beside him, “You won't let me go out with guys who don't like me. It's kind of limiting.”

Seongwu chose not to respond to it and just said, “I was just calling to let you know that I'm having a party at my place next weekend. You should come.”

Daniel pauses to consider the invitation. Surely Seongwu who has been nothing but helpful in his love quest will not invite him out if there won’t be single gay guys going to this party. This may be his chance but he had to make sure of one thing first. “I don't know. Won't Minhyun be there? Might be kinda awkward.”

“He's in Daegu for the weekend at some real estate conference. But there's gonna be a bunch of single guys.” Daniel may have mentally raised his fist in victory but he’s still unsure.

“So I will have plenty of chances to be awkward. Thank god.” He says sarcastically. 

“Don't worry. I'll be there. I'll talk you through it.” His voice speaks assurance and comfort. Daniel finds it very nice and unconsciously smiles.

Maybe this will be good for him so he asks for the details from the other man. “So, the party… is it like a big party, more of a mellow hang, or…” before he could finish his question, he heard a loud crash on the other line and Seongwu cuts him off to say, “Yeah, okay. I have to go - I think someone just dropped 60 wine glasses.”

Daniel hangs up, and goes back to watching his movie.

 

 

 

On his TV screen, Mary Stuart Masterson (as Watts) and Eric Stoltz (as Keith) are seen hanging out in a garage engaged in conversation.

 

_Watts: Amanda Jones is no minor leaguer who’ll be swept off her feet at the touch of your amateur lips._

_Keith: I think I can handle it._

_Watts: It’s cool. I was just gonna work on it with you but - if you’re comfortable...great._

_Keith: Wait. How do you work on it?_

_Watts: Pretend I’m her...Amanda._

 

Daniel sits up, a light bulb seemingly goes off in his head. He watches Keith and Watts kiss on screen and he smiles. Hurriedly, he turns off the TV and runs to Jaehwan’s room, goes in without knocking not realizing he’s was on video call with Sewoon who was on an overnight trip out of town.

Jaehwan looks up at Daniel, eyes wide. He didn’t say anything but he’s waiting for his friend to talk. Daniel’s very considerate when he knows that Jaehwan is talking with his boyfriend so him going into his room like this unannounced must mean something big happened.

“He’s into me.” Daniel says.

Jaehwan who still held his phone in front of his face turns back to his boyfriend and says, “I’ll call you right back, babe.” When the line got cut, Jaehwan stands up from his bed and goes in front of Daniel and hugs him. “Awesome. I knew it!” When they parted asked, “Who's this now?”

“Seongwu. It's totally clear to me now. He's Watts.” Daniel beams.

“What?”

“From Some Kind of Wonderful.”

“Wait, isn't Mary Stuart Masterson Watts?”

“Yes. Seongwu is Watts because Watts helps Eric Stoltz go on a date with Amanda Jones, but really she's in love with Eric Stoltz herself.”

One of the many good things about being friends with your roommate is that you learn each other’s quirks and habits. You also get and understand each other even without context. Jaehwan immediately understood what Daniel was talking about so he smiles, very happy for his friend and asks, “Wait… so who's Amanda Jones?”

“I guess Minhyun at first but now men in general. But that's not the point. The point is -- he's into me!” the other guy practically exclaimed.

Jaehwan caught the excitement as well and they both giggle like teenagers recalling their first kiss with their best friend. “You know, I knew there had to be a reason he was spending all that time with you.”

“I know! It's so obvious now -- there are so many signs.”

“Oooh, give me the signs. I love to hear about the signs.” Jaehwan goes back to his bed to sit down and pats the space beside him motioning Daniel to follow.

Once they’re both seated and facing each other, Daniel begins, “At first they were small - like when I first called he said _"Good to hear from you"_ ”

“Totally a good sign.”

“Right? And then the next time I called he was with a date - but he still took the call and talked to me for a while.” Daniel recalls with a giddy smile.

“How did you know it was a date?”

“He called him _"babe."_ ”

“You don’t leave a date to talk to someone else unless there's something going on.” Jaehwan encourages.

“I know! And it gets more obvious. I mean, please - there was no guy he was going to fix me up with. The fix up was him.”

“Wait - really?”

“ Yes! He shows up, without this fictitious Seunghyun character, and the two of us basically have a date. And then just now he calls me to invite me to a party at his place.” 

They both squeal in delight, “You're right. He so likes you.” Jaehwan grabs his laptop from his desk and says, “Let's look up places for your first overnight outing. Would you guys wanna do Gapyeong? I heard it’s very romantic there.”

Daniel is amused that Jaehwan seems more excited than him but doesn't stop him from searching on his laptop.

 

 

 

Daniel arrives at Seongwu’s apartment the following weekend and the party was already in full swing. It was a typical gathering of people in their 20’s. Mediocre food and decent mix alcohol. He stands somewhat uncomfortably, near the dining table where the snacks were laid out. Standing beside him was a guy probably around Seongwu’s age if not older by a year or two and he tries smiling at him but was ignored.

He didn’t pay it any mind and absently shoves a handful of Chex Mix into his mouth.

“It makes your breath stink.” He heard someone says and sees a petite girl looking at him with a very tall slender girl (Daniel thinks it’s her girlfriend) beside her.

“Sorry?” He takes a closer look and sees both ladies were decked out in full-on Saturday night out outfits with their cute tops, shorts, and high heels.

“Chex Mix. I learned the hard way. I made out with a girl after eating like a bag of the stuff. She said my breath smelled like trout.” the petite girl explained.

Daniel puts the snacks already in his hand back to the bowl on the table.

“Thanks for the tip.”

The girl may have realized that she came off a bit too forward so she says, “I'm sorry. That was rude. And that girl I made out with was a total bitch.”

“You want me to smell you? I'm sure you don't smell like trout.” the tall girl cuts in.

Daniel laughs thinking they’re very cute. “Thanks. I'm good.” When he thought the two were not looking, he faces to his left and cups his hand in front of his mouth and checks his breath.

“I'm Yoojung. This is Doyeon.” the petite girl was the one who spoke again.

Daniel looks back to them and introduced himself. “I’m Daniel. How do you guys know Seongwu?”

“He was our senior at uni. How do you know Seongwu?” Doyeon asked.

“I hope… I mean I'm pretty sure something is about to happen between us.”

The two looked at each other suspiciously then Yoojung asked, “So, you're here as like a guest, or like his date?”

Doyeon then added, “I hate that - when you don't know if you're a date… so you don't know if you should bring a friend, or if you're like co-hosting, or if you should stay until the end to have alone time.”

Suddenly, a look of doubt sweeps across Daniel’s face and he replies a soft, “He didn't really say.”

He reflexively grabs another handful of Chex Mix and starts gorging on it again so Doyeon stops him.

“But I'm sure I'm more than just a guest. I mean - there have been signs.” Daniel says trying to convince himself more than the two ladies in front of him.

“Cool.” Yoojung nods.

“I did get a slight waft of trout, though. Take a mint.” Doyeon reaches in her purse and Daniel looks at her, grateful.

 “Thank you.”

 

 

 

An hour later and Seongwu’s place is packed. Daniel is smashed into a hallway, trying to look relaxed when Seongwu comes up behind him. “I had no idea it would be such a madhouse.” 

Daniel turns to him and smiles. “Hey! Great party.”

“Are any guys hitting on you? Do you need me to evaluate their level of interest?”

Daniel scrunches up his face to communicate no then he says, “No one’s talked to me except your lesbian couple friends from uni. Even I know that their level of interest was probably low.”

“Well - too bad Seunghyun couldn't make it. I still think you guys would hit it off.” 

With the mention of that name, Daniel smiles knowingly. He smiles and nods to Seongwu, “Oh… right… _"Seunghyun"_.” using his index and middle fingers on both hands to put air quotes on the name.

Seongwu furrows his brows not knowing how to take that so he just says, “Anyway, I'm on my way to put out some more booze. But it looks like the food could use some refreshing.” He motions at the dining table and everything is empty. He adds, “Would you mind helping? I mean, just refill the chips and stuff?” 

Daniel is elated, his expression brightening up, “You mean, kind of like co-hosting?” He doesn’t notice the confused look on the other man’s face.

“Uhh, Okay. The chips are on top of the fridge.” Seongwu instructs before walking away.

 

 

 

A little later, the party is now even more crowded. Daniel weaves his way through the crowd. He’s deftly holding six cups of drinks, passing them off to various people as he walks. He stops at the food table to rearrange a few bowls and catches Seongwu’s eyes across the room. He's currently talking to friends. Daniel smiles at him and gives a thumbs up. The party host returns the gesture awkwardly and returns to his conversation.

 

 

 

20 minutes later, Daniel is in the kitchen, mixing up his signature dip. He’s chatting with a few people at the party feeling very much at home.

“Really great party.” a girl says to Daniel.

He grins back at her and says, “Thanks. When Seongwu said he wanted to have a party, I was like _"Let's do it!"_ ” and they all laugh.

“Thanks so much for having us.” one of the guys says.

“No problem. Anytime.”

The attractive guy from earlier that night (the one who ignored Daniel) enters the kitchen, and starts opening the kitchen cupboards looking for something. Daniel watched him with interest before asking, “Can I help you find something?”

He finds a bowl in the cabinet, and grabs it. “No, that's okay. I got it.” He brings the bowl over to the counter, and starts emptying Daniel’s dip into the bowl.

Daniel looks both confused and a bit irritated.

“Thanks for mixing that up.” he says dryly.

“What?” was all Daniel could say.

“Seongwu asked me to get the dip together. Thanks for getting it started.”

Daniel’s face grows red as the other guy tastes the dip. “Hmmm - could use a little more salt.” He then deftly grabs the dip and chips, and heads back out to the party.

The people who witnessed the small exchange were quietly looking at each other but Daniel couldn’t care less. All he knows is that he’s not pleased.

 

 

 

Later, Yoojung and Doyeon wave to Daniel as they leave. People are getting coats and the crowd is thinning. Daniel spots Seongwu in the kitchen and makes a beeline. He leans on the kitchen doorway and says, “When someone's underwear ends up in your toaster, you know it's been a good party.”

 Seongwu looks at the toaster and laughs. Daniel thinks he’s really handsome. 

“I guess people had fun.” the party host replied. But before Daniel can keep their conversation going, the guy from earlier emerges “Hey Seongwu, you want me to start cleaning up?”

Daniel stares daggers at him and says “That's sweet of you. But I thought I'd stick around, so I'll take care of it.”

“No. I got it.” he shoots Daniel a dirty look as he grabs a trash bag. Daniel decides two can play this game and grabs one too.

Seongwu looks mystified as his eyes go back and forth between the two guys then says, “Knock yourselves out.”

 

 

 

It is really late and everyone is gone except Seongwu and the third-wheel guy (Daniel didn’t know his name and decides this was an apt nickname). When Daniel enters the living room from the kitchen, he sees Seongwu and third-wheel guy on the couch playing a game on the Xbox.

“I think I've rounded up the last of the beer bottles.” Daniel says to get their attention.

When they don’t look up from the game, he just stands there awkwardly. “So, umm - what game is this?”

They still ignore him so he just looks around since it’s getting very awkward and uncomfortable now. “Well, maybe I should just… you know - I mean it's past three and…”

“YES! Suck it!” shouted third-wheel guy and Seongwu tossed down his controller defeated.

 He looks up to him and says “You are sensational.” Third-wheel guy beams and Daniel may or may have not flinched.

Third-wheel guy suddenly looks at Daniel, “Wait… Did you say it's past three? Man, I gotta go.” and Daniel suppresses a smile. Third-wheel guy gives Seongwu a hug and heads out. Daniel and Seongwu are finally alone so he decides it’s now or never and sits next to the older man on the couch.

They were silent for a moment before Seongwu says, “Thanks for staying and helping clean up. But I really need to get to bed.”

“Is that an invitation?” Daniel asks shyly.

“What?” Seongwu looks confused.

“I'm sorry. That was cheesy. I'm not good at this, you know.”

Suddenly, Daniel lunged himself at Seongwu and puts his hands on his face at starts to kiss him. Like really kiss him. Seongwu’s eyes widen looking at all directions except at the man on top of him, his arms automatically go up as if in surrender. When Daniel pulls away, he’s breathless.

“Yes!” he almost shouts and Seongwu looks a little scared.

“I knew it! I knew it. The best relationships grow out of friendships.” he goes in to kiss him again but this time, he puts his hand in front of him to stop him.

  “What?”

 “Uhmm....”

“So now you and I are in a relationship?” Seongwu asked with eyebrows raised and a look of disbelief on his face.

“Well, I'd say if we're not at that station yet, we're at least on the track.” Daniel replies and tries to kiss Seongwu again but he gets up from the couch.

“And why would you think that, exactly?”

 Daniel is still sitting on the couch as he looks up at him and softly says, “Because there were… you know - signs.”

“Really? Like what?” Now Seongwu has his hands on his waist like a father scolding a child.

Daniel hesitantly speaks, “Uhmm - it was good to hear from me… You…you talked to me even when you were on a date. I… I… felt… something...” he trails off.

Seongwu does not look pleased. “What are you talking about? What have I been saying since I met you? If a guy wants to date you HE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. HE WILL ASK YOU OUT. DID I ASK YOU OUT?!” he almost yells.

“No…” Daniel replied almost shrinking in his seat.

“Why would you do this?”

“I thought you were Watts.”

Seongwu doesn't even hear him and he says again,“Why do you do this? Why do you build this stuff up in your head, take each little thing a guy does and twist it into something else.” Daniel stands there, embarrassed, taking Seongwu’s berating.

Tears threaten to fall from his eyes and he says, “I'd rather be like that than like you.”

 “Excuse me?”

“Maybe I dissect each little thing, and put myself out there too much, and maybe I even thrive on the drama of it all. But that means I still care. You think you've won because people are expendable to you?

“ Sure, you don't get hurt or make a fool of yourself, but you don't fall in love that way, either. You haven't won, Seongwu. You're alone.”

Daniel stands up and heads toward the door. “I may do a lot of stupid shit but I know I'm a lot closer to finding someone than you are.”

  

 

 

On his way home, Daniel couldn’t help but call his roommate Jaewhan.

“Hey Hwannie, I'm sorry it's so late, but I just - don't start looking for double date travel tours… I know this isn't the first time this has happened, it's just… this one wasn't about whether he liked me. I just… I just really…really liked him.”

Daniel hangs up. Admitting his feelings was the last straw and his tears fell.

 

 

 

A few days later at Five Leaf Clover bar, Seongwu has his staff assembled for a preshift meeting. He looks at the papers in his clipboard as he talks. “Okay - Woojin you bus 4 to 6 - and pitch in with the servers when you –”

“No...I'm on 8 thru 10. I'm always on 8 through 10. I’ve been working here for 6 months doing 8 through 10.” Woojin corrected him.

Seongwu clears his throat, “Right. Mark, you take 4 through 6 then.”

 The staff looks at each other perplexed so Woojin says, “Dude. Mark quit like 4 weeks ago.” Seongwu rifles through his papers, not sure what he's looking for before he slams the clipboard on the bar.

  “Do we even need to have this meeting? Seriously? Does this serve any purpose?” The group answers with a resounding “No.”

“Good. Great. Get to work then.”

As his staff disperses, Seongwu heads to the bar and sees Jihoon so he calls him. “Hey, Jihoon! Any calls to the bar phone for me?”

“Uh…since you asked me 7 minutes ago? No, not a lot of phone traffic.” Jihoon starts to turn away but he saw Seongwu grab his cellphone, look at it, then put it down. He then grabs a beer, takes a swig, grabs his cell phone again - staring at it, willing it to ring. He puts it down again.

A huge smile grows on Jihoon’s face. “Oh my god.”

“What?” Seongwu looks at him.

“It's happened to you.”

“What’s happened to me?”

“What's his name?”

“Who?” he shook his head confused.

“The guy, Seongwu.”

“There’s no guy.”

 

Jihoon chuckles, “You can't hide it man. I know whipped and YOU got it bad.”

“Oh Please –” Seongwu protested as he starts walking towards his office.

 Jihoon follows him. “This is amazing! You can't focus, right? You jump every time your phone rings, check your SNS 10 times a minute. You wish you could write songs and feel the need to bring up his name in random conversations…”

 Seongwu stops at his office door letting Jihoon’s words sink in. The young man continued, “It's always the same. And it has happened to you, my friend. Trust me.”

 “Shit.”

Jihoon smiles and walks away, “Welcome to my world, asshole.”

  

 

 

A few days after what happened at Seongwu’s party, Daniel decided that it’s time to turn over a new leaf. It ended somewhat disastrously for him but if he’s learned anything from the older man, there’s no use in pursuing what he feels since it’s not reciprocated. He wants to change. He will definitely not be as cynical as Seongwu but he did bring up some good points about Daniel’s life and the way he handles relationships. He decided to start small today and picked up his phone. 

“Thank you again for letting me pay over the phone. I assure you this late payment will never happen again. Yes, I’m just trying to cut some of the drama out of my life. Okay, bye.”

 His phone rings not 5 seconds after he hangs up. It’s an unknown number but he picks it up anyways.

“Hello?”

 “Hi, Daniel. This is Seunghyun.” A warm voice says on the other line.

“Uhm…”

“I’m Seongwu’s friend. We were supposed to meet up but he told me the wrong day.”

  Daniel lets this sink in and absently says, “Seunghyun. So you do exist…”

The man laughs and says, “I do. And I'd love to buy you dinner sometime if you're game.”

“Yes. Sure. Why not?”

 

 

 

It’s late in the afternoon and Daniel stood in front of the full length mirror in his room blow drying his hair. His phone left on his bed is ringing but the noise of the hair dryer overwhelms his ringtone and Daniel doesn’t notice the call.

 

 

 

At the same time at Four Leaf Clover, Seongwu is in his office pacing as he talks into the phone. “Hey, Daniel. It's Seongwu. I was just wondering how you were doing. It’s been a little while since we’ve talked and I was wondering how you were doing.”  Seongwu looks up and finds Woojin watching him, shaking his head. He motions for him to leave but he doesn’t. Seongwu reminds himself to get in the habit of closing his office door.

“Anyway, I was hoping to talk to you. Obviously. But you’re out. So, call me. Sometime. Or tonight. I’m around. Okay. That’s enough now. It's Seongwu.” He hangs up and sees Woojin with an unimpressed look on his face.

“Dude.”

“I know. I know.”

 

 

 

Daniel finishes fixing his hair and clothes, grabs his phone from his bed, oblivious to the missed call notification and heads out of his flat.

Seunghyun took him to an Italian restaurant with a nice view of the city. Daniel sat across from his date, and he noticed that his handsome features and very classy style.

“So, Seongwu told me you work in music.”

“Yes. Yes, I do. Music.” he answers awkwardly.

 There was a long pause and Daniel uses the moment to take in everything before saying, “This is nice.”

“It is.” Seunghyun reciprocated with a smile.

“A nice evening and you planned it. You called me when you said you would and showed up on time. Thank you, Seunghyun.”

“You're very welcome.”

  There was another moment of silence before their eyes meet and they smile to each other.

  

 

 

Seongwu is in his apartment looking very agitated. He's shirtless, his hair's a disaster and he’s holding his phone staring at it. He can't stop himself and he dials. For the nth time, he hears Daniel’s voicemail prompt and he hangs up.

He stands there, hands on his waist, foot tapping as he thinks. Then he runs into his bathroom like a madman.

 

 

 

At the end of their date, Seunghyun drove Daniel back to his shared apartment with Jaehwan and they awkwardly stand outside his door.

“It was nice meeting you.” Daniel says.

“Thank you for a lovely evening.”

“You, too.” Seunghyun reaches out for an ill timed hug and made the atmosphere even more awkward.

“Goodnight.” Daniel goes inside, removes his shoes and heads straight to the couch to sit down. Not 10 seconds after he’s sat down, he heard a knock on the door. He thinks that Seunghyun may have forgotten something so he reluctantly gets up.

 

“Did you forget something?” When he opens his door though, it wasn’t Seunghyun but Seongwu.

“Yeah… I did.”

“Really? What did you forget?” Daniel closed the door behind him so they’re both standing in the hallway.

“This.” Seongwu reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pen. The same pen that Daniel pretended to be returning to Minhyun the night that they met. Daniel tries to suppress his smile but was unsuccessful.

 

They continue to stand in his entry and Daniel takes the pen from Seongwu. “You came all the way here this late at night to give me back a promotional pen?” he asks.

“I thought I better come up with some excuse to get over here. I mean, isn't that how it's done?” Seongwu grins at him.

 “Sometimes.”

Seongwu continues to look at Daniel, nervous. “Look, I can't stop thinking about you. I drive by your place. I call and hang up. I'm turning into –”

“Me.” Daniel cuts him off.

“Yeah” he laughs.

“Well, a wise person once told me that if someone wants to be with me, he will make it happen. No matter what.”

“True.” Seongwu nods his head almost too eagerly.

“But when I was hurling my body onto yours… you did not seem to want to _"make it happen."_ ”

“Here's the thing about that… You were right.” Seongwu starts, his hand on his nape as he explains, “I've gotten so used to keeping myself at a safe distance from people. Having this control – I didn't know what it felt like when I actually fell for someone.”

 

Daniel paused thinking about whether to give Seongwu a chance. “Look, I've just been out with your friend Seunghyun. And it just might be exactly what I need. No drama. He calls… He does what he says…”

“I could do that stuff too –”

“But you didn't.” Daniel is getting teary remembering what happened after Seongwu’s party. “And that same wise person told me that I am the rule. That… I… I have to stop thinking that every guy will change. I need to stop thinking that I will be–”

Before he can finish his sentence, Seongwu kisses him, long, slow, and passionate. Daniel feels overwhelmed and he can’t help but close his eyes and kiss back. When they parted, he looked at Daniel in a way that he’s never looked at anyone before.

 

“You are my exception.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! I can’t believe I actually finished this. I’m posting this from my phone on the way to work because I’m definitely not going to have time later so apologies for the errors in formatting. 
> 
> Daniel and Jaehwan’s squealing like school girls scene is very farfetched from reality and I can’t ever picture it in my head which is why I think it’s funny. Hopefully you do too ^^,
> 
> Thank you to thos who read this, especially those that actually liked it :p
> 
> Maybe I can turn another movie plot to ff if I get the inspiration and feel their dynamic will work. 
> 
> Have a great day/evening wherever you are in the world :)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so maybe the recently concluded OngNiel week has inspired me to go out of my cave and write again. Creative writing hasn't really been my forte and it's been more than 10 years since I did something like this (yes, I am a noona fan haha) so bear with me. I just couldn't help but contribute to this wonderful (sometimes crazy and a little bit deluded :P) fandom. I've been a silent fan since the start of Produce 101 and I can't believe it took me more than a year to join in and kind of make myself known (in a way).
> 
> I'm on twt lurking most of the time if you wanna be friends (@asdert__)


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